Women’s Work

May 23, 2018

Women’s work at kitchen tables has always been more than making meals. As a child, sitting at or under many a kitchen table, I observed the power in the way that women listened, formed relationships, built community and solved problems. It was at one such kitchen table, the one belonging to Ellen and Bill Straus at their Straus Home Ranch in Marshall, that the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) was born. The very organization that has since its founding in 1980 preserved 51,581 acres of farmland in Marin Country—in perpetuity. And it’s still going strong, still recognizing and utilizing the power of the kitchen table.

More stories like this:

Jennifer Beretta at the Dolcini Jersey Dairy, Marin County.

Jennifer Beretta: What It Takes To Keep A Dairy Thriving

February 25, 2026

Jennifer Beretta can’t always remember her phone number, but she remembers cow numbers from 15 years ago. That kind of commitment—to heritage, to family, to land—is what keeps agriculture thriving in Marin County.

Read More

Moira Kuhn of Marin Roots Farm stands beside a weathered Kubota tractor in a field at the MALT-protected Volpi Ranch in Marin County.

Moira Kuhn: Building a Farm on Borrowed Ground

February 23, 2026

Moira Kuhn has farmed Marin County for over two decades without ever owning the land—and what’s at stake if farmers like her can’t stay.

Read More

Rolling green hills of Spring Valley Ranch at sunset, with cattle grazing in the valley below and the Soulajule Reservoir winding through the landscape, surrounded by protected Marin County ranchland.

How to Read a Ranch: What One Photograph Tells Us

February 19, 2026

What 1,179 acres of protected farmland actually does — and why it matters

Read More